{"title":"Virtual avoidance: Examining STEM students' lower interest in online courses","authors":"Miranda M. McIntyre , Geoffrey Cui , Yunfei Hou","doi":"10.1016/j.iheduc.2025.100995","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Online education is growing in popularity, yet online courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experience lower student satisfaction and higher attrition compared to non-STEM courses. This study explores differences in online course perceptions between STEM and non-STEM students and how these perceptions influence their intentions to enroll in future online courses. A sample of 1245 students was recruited from a diverse range of majors, with 44 % of students majoring in STEM. Relative to non-STEM majors, STEM students felt that online classes offer lower performance outcomes, are less enjoyable, and offer less flexibility while requiring more effort. These perceptions explain 74 % of the variance in intentions to enroll in online courses. Differences among STEM sub-categories were also examined to provide a nuanced picture of students' experiences in online courses. The findings identify strategic improvements for online STEM courses by targeting learning-based performance, flexibility in course modality, and students' enjoyment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48186,"journal":{"name":"Internet and Higher Education","volume":"65 ","pages":"Article 100995"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Internet and Higher Education","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096751625000041","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/28 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Online education is growing in popularity, yet online courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experience lower student satisfaction and higher attrition compared to non-STEM courses. This study explores differences in online course perceptions between STEM and non-STEM students and how these perceptions influence their intentions to enroll in future online courses. A sample of 1245 students was recruited from a diverse range of majors, with 44 % of students majoring in STEM. Relative to non-STEM majors, STEM students felt that online classes offer lower performance outcomes, are less enjoyable, and offer less flexibility while requiring more effort. These perceptions explain 74 % of the variance in intentions to enroll in online courses. Differences among STEM sub-categories were also examined to provide a nuanced picture of students' experiences in online courses. The findings identify strategic improvements for online STEM courses by targeting learning-based performance, flexibility in course modality, and students' enjoyment.
期刊介绍：
The Internet and Higher Education is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal focused on contemporary issues and future trends in online learning, teaching, and administration within post-secondary education. It welcomes contributions from diverse academic disciplines worldwide and provides a platform for theory papers, research studies, critical essays, editorials, reviews, case studies, and social commentary.
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